To a Never Ending World
by Drekkler
Summary: An Alternate Universe of .hack//SIGN, featuring an arrogant Tsukasa who after finding the Event NPC Aura slowly begins to discover a different side of, The World. Chapter two and three added to.
1. Tsukasa

To a Never-Ending World  
Author: Rhyste  
Summary: To a Never-Ending World is an Alternate Universe fanfic of .hack//SIGN. Tsukasa, depressed and lonely, goes on The World daily as an escape from reality. Convincing himself he's strong, he often comes off to players as an arrogant loner person, who believes he doesn't need other people. When he finds the Event NPC, Aura, he slowly begins to uncover a different side of The World that he never looked at before.  
Disclaimer: .hack//SIGN and the entire .hack project do not belong to me. ^^;  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
______ to a never-ending world  
_________ part one  
_____________ tsukasa  
  
"Walk by me," said the girl. She put her hand out to the grey haired Wave Master in anticipation. "Walk by me," she repeated, "and I'll protect you."  
  
"Protect me?" snapped the Wave Master. He pushed her hand away, and snapped, "I don't need protection! I can take care of myself!"  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked. "Are you sure you do not need my protection? Because you do. You tell yourself you don't because you think you're strong. You are not strong. You know you are not strong. You wish to have my protection, yet you refuse it in fear of making yourself look weak."  
  
The Wave Master did not reply.  
  
"I am right, then," said the little girl.  
  
"No!" he yelled out. "You're wrong! Le-leave me alone!"  
  
"Deny it all you want," she said proudly, "but you know I am right... my name is Maha," she said, curtseying. She once again put her hand out to the Wave Master. "I need you too, because I am also weak... we should party together."  
  
The Wave Master did not reply, yet put his hand out to her.  
  
"Oh... okay..." he said.  
  
They touched, and Maha smiled. "What's your name, Sir Mage?"  
  
"I'm... Tsukasa," he said.  
  
"Let's go together," she said, combing her fingers through the ends of her hair. "To... to the end of The World."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Grave of the Serpent," said Maha at the Chaos Gate.  
  
"Grave of the Serpent..." repeated Tsukasa. "Ok, got it... do you have everything you need?"  
  
"Yes," replied Maha. She leaned on her spear, waiting for Tsukasa.  
  
"Alright..." he said uneasily. "Let's go then."  
  
The field known as the Grave of the Serpent turned out to be a rainy nighttime field. Tsukasa could hear the mystical, almost Indianesque tribal music playing through his ears along with the sound of water hitting the ground.  
  
"Come on," snapped Maha, "the dungeon is this way." She pointed to a structure in the distance with her spear head, and motioned for Tsukasa to follow.  
  
"Maha?" asked Tsukasa on their way over.  
  
"Yes?" she asked.  
  
"When you approached me in town..." he began. "In Mac Anu..."  
  
"What about it?" she asked.  
  
"How did you..." he started uncertainly. But then he realized, if he asked her how he knew so much about his personality, it would perhaps make him look weak. Weak was not a word he wanted to use to describe himself. But why did she know so much about his personality? Wait, why was he agreeing that she was right about how he acted?  
  
"How did I know you're a weak, fallible, pitiful person?" she asked, snickering. "Is the little voice at the back of your head telling you that this girl who you're partying with was right?"  
  
"Right about what?" asked an angered Tsukasa.  
  
She flipped her hair over her right shoulder, and smirked. Suddenly, she lifted her spear, and forced Tsukasa up against a large rock structure with the end of her weapon. She twirled it quickly, pressing the the blade against his neck. Both woman and weapon now forced him against the stone.  
  
"Get off me!" he hollered.  
  
"You're weak," teased Maha. "You know it at the back of your head, but you're far too afraid to admit it... Poor, stupid, WEAK, Tsukasa!" she snickered. "I know you're weak, because..." she lowered the spear to her side, "because I'm just like you."  
  
Maha left Tsukasa by himself, and strutted off towards the dungeon. Tsukasa slid down to the ground. He felt a rush of a feeling he'd thought he'd never had again... was it such a trivial thing as loneliness? Lonely, him? No, he wasn't lonely... but he was...  
  
"MAHA!" he yelled on impulse. He chased after her path right into the first level of the dungeon. She was waiting for him at the entrance.  
  
"Ooh, did you get lonely without me?" she asked.  
  
"N-no!" he stuttered in embarrassment. "I don't get lonely! We-we're in a party to-together!" he stammered. "You shouldn't just... leave me behind like that!"  
  
"Whatever you say," she said.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Although it took an hour of slaughtering and healing, the silent party of two got to the last level of the dungeon. They didn't really talk much, an occasional question about whether or not someone needed healing, or who got the next item, or the generic age, sex, location questions. Tsukasa was 16, male, and living in Yokohama, while Maha was 19, female, and living in Osaka. Maha, who had also taken most of the chests, told Tsukasa he could open the last chest.  
  
"Ok..." sighed Tsukasa. He mentally agreed it'd be something crappy, and opened it up. A new staff, a new spear, and a box of some sort. He tossed the spear at Maha, who caught it with ease. "Here, it's a spear, take it."  
  
"Hmm... nice..." She swung it around a few times, twirling it on the tips of her finger. "A level 27 spear, much better than my level 19 spear..." She adjusted her equipment, and looked at Tsukasa, pointing her spear at the little box. "So, what's with that box?"  
  
"Uhm, I'm not sure..." he began.  
  
"Then open it, you pussy," she moaned.  
  
When Tsukasa opened the box, he saw a brillant flash of white and yellow, and found himself flying through a seemingly endless spiral of colors flashing before him. He began feeling dizzy and claustrophobic. The tunnel didn't look like it was about to end, and on impulse, he started screaming. He heard Maha asking him to shut up and open his eyes. When he did, they were in a patchy grass area, where a little girl was playing with a teddy bear next to a bed, and the scenery was full of various pastel colours.  
  
"Well..." said Tsukasa. "I opened it."  
  
"... Obviously," snickered Maha. She sat up, and looked at the little girl.  
  
"Who's she?" asked Tsukasa."  
  
"... How am I supposed to know?" asked Maha.  
  
The little girl's pink hair fell down her back and down her front. She was clothed in a simple dress, and was holding a teddy bear. Her eyes lit up at the sign of new, foreign people and she approached them warmly.  
  
"Hello!" she said.  
  
"Er, hi there," said Tsukasa. "Little girl, do you know where we are?"  
  
The child stared blankly. "You're in Mama Morgana's domain."  
  
"Mama... Morgana?" asked Tsukasa arrogantly.  
  
"Uh-huh... it's also me and teddy's place! We live here! See?" She took Tsukasa's hand and dragged him to her bed. "This is our bed! Teddy doesn't take up much room! So we can share one! Do you want to sleep here with us too?"  
  
"Aura," called a voice from above.  
  
Tsukasa and Maha immediately looked up at the seemingly endless blue sky. A voice was speaking to them.  
  
"Aura," the voice repeated.  
  
"Mama?" she asked, clutching her teddy bear.  
  
"Aura, these people... have you come to take this child away?" asked the voice, presumably Mama Morgana.  
  
"We're... players of this game, The World," yelled Tsukasa. "Who and what are you?"  
  
"This child is very small. She should certainly be able to accompany you in the world..." said Morgana.  
  
"Huh?" asked Tsukasa. He dropped his staff at his side. "What's she talking about?" he asked Maha.  
  
"I think we found an Event NPC," said Maha plainly. "Maybe we're supposed to take her to different places or fulfill what the talking blue sky wants us to do, and we get a rare item?"  
  
"Well, it's not like I didn't suspect that or anything," Tsukasa replied in a rushed, arrogant tone.  
  
"What else do you think she is then?" asked Maha, obviously annoyed by Tsukasa.  
  
"Alright, alright, I've decided she's an Event NPC, and I'm taking her to wherever, so I can get the treasure!" he said.  
  
Maha paused. Tsukasa paused. For seemingly two minutes, neither one said anything.  
  
"Well?" asked Tsukasa impatiently.  
  
"Well what?" asked Maha.  
  
"Aren't you going to say something about this Event NPC?" asked Tsukasa, wanting Maha to beg him to join along as well so he could refuse her offer.  
  
"... Uhm, not really," replied Maha. "Grab your damn NPC, and let's go back to Mac Anu then, and you can start you happy World Tour or whatever with this girl."  
  
"Ok, fine!" said Tsukasa, crossing his arms. "I'll take the NPC and get the rare item!"  
  
"Right, you said that a while ago."  
  
Tsukasa gave up on her, and turned to look towards the sky. "Where am I suppposed to take her?"  
  
"Take her everywhere you can," Morgana directed him calmly. "To the end of the world... and to the dawn of a new age..."  
  
"... If such a place exists," muttered Maha.  
  
Tsukasa grabbed Aura's hand, and withdrew his Orcania Spirit.  
  
"We're going somewhere?" asked Aura.  
  
"Yes, we're going into The World," said Tsukasa.  
  
"We're going to a new place!" she cried. "Teddy!" She let go of Tsukasa, and grabbed her teddy bear before rejoining him.  
  
Tsukasa looked annoyed by this supposed Event NPC, yet used the Spirit to leave Morgana's domain.  
  
Maha meanwhile sat on the bed. "Event NPC, huh?" she chuckled. She took out her own Orcania Spirit, and warped back to Mac Anu, wondering about what kinds of chaos Tsukasa and Aura's appearance might cause.  
  
Morgana continued speaking, though no one else was there. "Take her to the end of the world, and the dawn of the next, in which all life as that foolish boy knew is gone. Take her to the end of reality, and to the dawn of The World."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Subaru, the teal green haired leader of the Crimson Knights, was walking across the bridge in Mac Anu to board the boat of the Crimson Knights, when two of her Knights suddenly approached her, calling her name.  
  
"Yes?" she snapped at them. "I don't have time for whatever it is you want! I'm late as it is for a meeting with the Descendants of Fianna!"  
  
"But ma'am!" said one of the knights, "Ginkan and Crim were told of a strange looking PC in Mac Anu! She appears as a child with a teddy bear!"  
  
"Then take care of it! I have no important matters to attend to!"  
  
"But Subaru!"  
  
"WHAT!?" she roared.  
  
Taking two steps back, and stuttering, the Knight began to tell of her of the events.  
  
"The, the two people the weird looking girl was accompanied by! They... they began to PK the Knights!"  
  
This made the Heavy Axe's eyes widen. She looked ashamed.  
  
"Milady! They make fools of us! Certainly this must be more important than meeting with those two-"  
  
"Hardly," she huffed. She began walking down the streets of Mac Anu, looking for these PK'ers and this strange little girl. "Oh those two will murder me for failing to meet them," she thought, in reference to the Descendants of Fianna. What scared her more was the fact that one of them had recently been given Adminship.  
  
As she walked down the streets of Mac Anu with the two knights trailing behind her, she saw a Wave Master and a Long Armswoman fighting her knights. A little girl holding a teddy bear was sitting down behind the Wave Master and Long Arm, hugging the bear.  
  
"You there!" called out Subaru. "Halt!" She put her axe in front of her like a shield. "Why did you start this humiliation in town?"  
  
"All we did!" yelled Tsukasa, "was come in to town! And walk around! When this guy-" he pointed his staff at a Knight with horns out of his helmet, "and this OTHER guy-" he now had his staff at a spikey green haired Long Arm dressed in red, "started ATTACKING US!"  
  
"For no reason, without warning, I might add," said Maha.  
  
Subaru surveyed the scene, and looked at Aura.  
  
"Well, obviously they would, as you have a hacked character with you."  
  
"Hacked character?" yelled Tsukasa. "We have no HACKED CHARACTER with us!"  
  
"Then what do you call that little girl!"  
  
"She's an NP-"  
  
"NPC, please," Subaru spat bitterly. "You expect me, a person with many things to do than listen to do you, to believe that bullshit?"  
  
"You stupid biased WHORE," screeched Maha. "You're not even LISTENING to us!"  
  
"Blah blah blah-" mocked Subaru.  
  
"AAAHHHH!" Maha went crazy, and attacked Subaru.  
  
Subaru was taken back by her bold actions, and readied herself for combat, but such preparation came a moment too late, because by the time Subaru had a firm grip on the axe, Maha had already swung at her legs, and knocked her over onto the streets of Mac Anu, and then began slashing at her as she tried to crawl away from Maha. The knights were all in shock that anyone would try to attack their Princess.  
  
"How DARE you!" screamed Subaru. She put her hand to her face, and touched a scar given to her by Maha. "My... my face! You've slashed my beautiful face!" She laid almost eagle spread against the ground, one hand supporting her weight as she leaned up, and the other to her face.  
  
"I'll do more if you don't shut up!" smirked Maha.  
  
Subaru crawled up against the Mac Anu bridge in total fear of Maha, clinging onto the railing for dear life like as if it would save her somehow. She then cried out, "BALMUNG!" while covering her head with her arms as Maha rose her spear ready to strike her at moment's notice. The knight with the horned helmet came to her rescue, and started to fight Maha. The one with the tall green hair on the other hand, went after Tsukasa.  
  
"To hurt a Moderator with such unprovoked actions!" yelled the one with the helmet. "Such rude and disrepectful behavior!"  
  
"And what're you going to do?" mocked Maha, "report me? Come on Tsukasa, let's fight these close-minded idiots!"  
  
"I'm working on it!" called Tsukasa. He was desparately trying to ward off the tall green haired Knight.  
  
Reinforcements of the Crimson Knights began gathering in Mac Anu, as Maha and the horned Knight were fighting. Tsukasa meanwhile was at a serious disadvantage against the green haired one. And with Aura in tow, he was having an even more difficult time protecting himself and her.  
  
"Just stop now," said the green haired one, "and we'll stop as well. If you don't, we won't be afraid to send the entire squad on you."  
  
"Hah!" said Tsukasa, highly entertained. "You expect me to believe that? That you'd stop?"  
  
Although, Tsukasa had to admit, the amount of Crimson Knights gathering was pretty large. He looked at Maha, who also seemed to look fairly troubled by their amount of enemies. Tsukasa withdrew two scrolls from his tunic, and suddenly threw one at Maha. Maha caught it, and activated it - it was a Talisman of Speed. Tsukasa took Aura's hand, and zoomed past the mess of Knights up to the Chaos Gate, which Maha had already done.  
  
"Done Roriak," she said quickly and left.  
  
Subaru sat curled up in a ball, utterly humiliated as Tsukasa and Maha took Aura and left Mac Anu immediately. "Balmung," she whispered to herself, hugging her knees.  
  
"Subaru," said the horned helmet knight.  
  
"Yes Ginkan?"  
  
"I... I know I'm not Balmung, but please, I will let you cry on my shoulder all the same." He offered his hand out to her.  
  
Subaru now looked offended. "How dare you," she told him, "try to replace Balmung." She stood up with whatever pride she had left, and slapped Ginkan across the face. She then picked up her axe, and logged out.  
  
"Crim," said Ginkan to the tall haired green knight, "I... don't understand."  
  
"Understand what?" asked Crim. "The players? Or Subaru?"  
  
"Both..." replied Ginkan.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Authors Notes:  
*Like //SIGN, this is a journey of a boy on self-discovery, and how he effects those around him.  
*Tsukasa is NOT stuck in The World, and does not GET stuck.  
*Tsukasa is a boy in real life, and in the game.  
*Because I'm biased, Balmung is mentioned like, every two seconds. :P I mean, considering how many times he was mentioned in //SIGN, it's pretty realistic. :P  
*To be very very honest with you this was so damn rushed OMFG I DON'T WANNA WRITE THIS PRE-REQUISITE CHAPTERS AHHH~! WANT TO WRITE CHAPTER WITH BALMUNG IN IT! ;-;  
  
~ ~ ~ 


	2. Mimiru

To a Never-Ending World  
Author: Rhyste  
Summary: To a Never-Ending World is an Alternate Universe fanfic of .hack//SIGN. Tsukasa, depressed and lonely, goes on The World daily as an escape from reality. Convincing himself he's strong, he often comes off to players as an arrogant loner person, who believes he doesn't need other people. When he finds the Event NPC, Aura, he slowly begins to uncover a different side of The World that he never looked at before.  
Disclaimer: .hack//SIGN and the entire .hack project do not belong to me. ^^;  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
______ to a never-ending world  
_________ part two  
_____________ mimiru  
  
Mimiru, a Heavy Blade, was sitting by the Puchiguso Farm in Dona Roriak, had been waiting for her two friends for nearly an hour... had they stood her up? She stood up, and looked around the floating mountain area, walking across the wooden plank bridges that connected the floating isles together, checking out everyone. Then she saw a Blade User that looked like Bear, one of the people she was supposed to meet, heading towards the Chaos Gate with another Blade User, and ran towards him.  
  
"Hey!" she yelled. "Hey Bear!"  
  
"Huh?" the two Blade Users turned around. "Excuse me, but I'm not 'Bear.'"  
  
Mimiru came to a skidding halt; his body paint was green, and his armor was blue, but the basic character design was the same. The other Blade User, on the other hand, had a pair of wings sticking out of his back. She was so embarrassed and flustered she didn't take time to realize who she just met.  
  
"I-I'm sorry," she said. She felt embarrassed, and ran away quickly.  
  
"That was strange," said the winged Blade User. "Second time today someone asked you if you were 'Bear...'"  
  
"Yeah... first one was a blonde Wave Master..."  
  
"Hehe... sounds like that guy has plenty of girlfriends... much unlike you."  
  
"He-hey! St-stop it! We're supposed to go meet with Subaru now!"  
  
He rose his hand to the Chaos Gate, and yelled, "MAC ANU!" and the other Blade User followed in suit, with feathers from his wings fluttering around him.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Tsukasa and Maha arrived in Dona Roriak, Aura with them.  
  
"The Crimson Knights are only moderators of Mac Anu," said Maha, "so we should be OK here."  
  
"Uhm, who moderates here?"  
  
"Well... the Descendants of Fianna themselves take care of Dona Roriak, Calmine Gaderica, Fort Auf, and Lia Fail... it's just there's a lot of Newbie activity on Mac Anu since it's a beginner server. Players who play on the other ones are usually more mature."  
  
"I wonder what they're talking about?" Aura asked teddy. She sat down on the grassy area with Teddy.  
  
"But," he stammered, "the Descendants of Fianna... I'm more afraid of them than the Crimson Knights."  
  
"Oh?" asked Maha. "I thought a person like you wouldn't be afraid of an~ny~thi~ing!"  
  
Tsukasa began turning red. "N-no! I, I'm not! It's just... on-one of them recently hit the highest level of Adminship! It was all over the message boards! He can ban players without warning, erase accounts, all kinds of crazy stuff!"  
  
"... you mean the infamous Admins who no one's ever seen?" Maha asked.  
  
When The World first opened, there was a contest held. The winners of that contest, which was to defeat a seemingly impossible dragon called the Zawan Shin dragon, were two people that the players began calling the justice knights of The World, and the Descendants of Fianna.  
  
Since then, both of them had become moderators, and later low-level Admins in the system. However, what was weird, is that few people actually saw him, or knew either of their names: they just knew their title.  
  
"Yeah," said Tsukasa, "them."  
  
"Eh, fine then, we'll go hide out in a dungeon if you're so damned paranoids about those damn descendants... you know, few people've claimed they actuall exist-"  
  
"Look I just got to level 26 yesterday and found a staff with one Water Seri Summon!"  
  
"Oh, alright, FINE... let's go to a fire-based field then so you can test out your damn Summon."  
  
"How about the Flaming Pyres Spring?" said someone else.  
  
"Huh?" Maha and Tsukasa looked to the source of the voice. It was a heavy blade girl with red hair and red armor. "Uhh.."  
  
"Yeah, let's party up!" she said. "My name's Mimiru!"  
  
"Uhhh..." Tsukasa looked at Aura, who was observing he and Maha with great interest. "Well, we kind of have a third party member..."  
  
"And I overheard you talking about being caught by the legendary Descendants for something!" said Mimiru.  
  
"What's your point?" asked Maha.  
  
"If you don't come with me, I happen to know how to contact them! As a matter of fact, they were just here a few moments ago!"  
  
Maha, Tsukasa, Aura, and Teddy did a small huddle.  
  
"Uh, you don't know if she's lying or not!" pleaded Tsukasa. He hugged onto his rare Staff.  
  
"Gah!" yelled Maha. "Stupid men and you're stupid material possessions!"  
  
"So," said Mimiru, who was hovering about their huddle. "You'll go then?"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Flaming Pyres Spring was totally covered in hills of molten rock. The vapors came up from the grounds, and the condition was so bad, that a Spring of Illusion wasn't even there.  
  
Aura danced around wildly: her feet were bare.  
  
"Ow ow ow ow!" she cried.  
  
"Tsukasa, carry your damn NPC."  
  
"She's an NPC?" asked Mimiru.  
  
"Yep... unfortunately for us."  
  
Tsukasa, quite unwillingly, lifted Aura onto his shoulders.  
  
"To the dungeon," he said blandly. He pointed his staff in the opposite direction.  
  
"Tsukasa-" began Maha.  
  
Mimiru smacked herself on the head... It was going to be a long day.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
The blonde Sorceress named BT had found the Blade User named Bear.  
  
"Isn't Mimiru coming?" asked BT. "You told her to meet us behind the Item Shop, didn't you?"  
  
Bear didn't reply, but rather, looked quite uncortable.  
  
"Bear?" asked BT.  
  
"Uh, well, actually," he said. "I... thought it'd be nice if the two of us just went together..."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Yes... there's something I need to discuss with you, about us, and about her... but I thought we needed to talk about it... you know, adult to adult?"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Instead of a monster, a blue treasure chest spawned from the yellow monster circle. The three warriors looked blankly at it.  
  
"Uhm, anyone have a disarming tool?" asked Tsukasa.  
  
"What's that?" asked Aura. She pointed at the chest.  
  
"Aura! Wait! Don't-" it was too late. Aura had run into the chest, and opened it up.  
  
"WAAAAHHHH!" was all they heard next.  
  
"Poor girl," said Mimiru.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
In the headquarters of the Crimson Knights, Subaru sat with Crim and Ginkan at her side. The room was decorated in red carpets and lighting, and a table at which the Knights usually discussed their business. A chair for Subaru, looking much like a throne, was where he sat, while Ginkan kneeled at her side, and Crim leaned against a wall with his spear.  
  
"Milady Subaru," said Ginkan. "Don't cry any longer! We'll find those two who insulted us."  
  
Two people entered the room of the Crimson Knights. In specific, the two people of whom Subaru had run into earlier. Crim, upon their arrival, kneeled to honor the guests.  
  
"Subaru..." began the one with wings.  
  
Subaru, sat up, and looked that the two. "Balmung!" she cried. She leapt out off her chair, away from Ginkan, and right into his arms. "Oh, Balmung!"  
  
"There there now, don't cry," he said gently.  
  
The other one rolled his eyes at the sigh. Ginkan took note of his immediately.  
  
"How rude," muttered Ginkan.  
  
"What was that?" asked Balmung. He looked blankly at Ginkan.  
  
"Er, uhm, how rude of Subaru to jump into your arms like that, without properly greeting you?"  
  
"It's alright, I don't mind..." sighed Balmung.  
  
"Let's... go outside..." said Subaru.  
  
"Oh, sure..." Balmung took Subaru's hand and led her outdoors.  
  
The other Blade User laughed once Subaru was out of hearing range.  
  
"Poor Balmung!"  
  
"Huh?" asked Crim, who was now raising to his feet.  
  
"What do you mean by that, Orca?" asked Ginkan. Below his helmet, Orca was sure he was fairly offended.  
  
Orca smirked. "You think he wants to be the shoulder she cries on? That's a load of bullshit." He took a seat at the planning table, and looked at Ginkan and Crim. "Well, while she's out there dragging Balmung through all Nine Layers of Hell, tell me about these problems you've been having? ... with this person?"  
  
"No... people," said Crim. "A Wave Master, a Long Arm, and a hacked PC who looks like a little girl."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
They walked into room after room, beating up every monster that came their way, boinked open chest after chest, and destroyed all crates and corpses in their way.  
  
"How many floors is this place?" asked a weary Tsukasa. He had run fresh out of SP restoring items. He had just gained a level, yet, HP and SP didn't automatically restore when you gained a level.  
  
"Uh... I think we're on floor three," said Maha. "So the treasure room shouldn't be too far from here."  
  
"Well... looks like that room might be it," said Mimiru. She pointed towards a room far down the dungeon hallway, with a small treasure chest sitting outside it. "Sometimes I find there's a chest sitting outside the last door."  
  
"Hmm... good observsation!" declared Maha, patting Mimiru on the shoulder. "Come on, Tsukasa."  
  
Tsukasa took Aura, and gave her a piggy back ride as the other two party members walked far ahead of them. He groaned, and wondered what kind of prize this Event would get him.  
  
... knowing his luck, it probably wasn't a very good one.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Who wants to open it?" asked Mimiru.  
  
"Not me!" cried Aura. After her last devestating experience with chests, she didn't ever want to be near one, and the entire time on their way down, had been crying every time a treasure chest was in a room.  
  
"I'll open it," volunteered Tsukasa. He leaned over, and Aura slid off of his back. Then he inched closer to the chest, and opened it. From it, he drew out a spear, an armor, and a Golden Puchiguso.  
  
"Three party members... three treasures," said Maha. "I'll be taking the spear."  
  
"I guess I'll take the Armor," said Mimiru.  
  
"And leaves me with... the Puchiguso," whined Tsukasa. He rose it up in the air, and activated it. "More Health Points, whope de doo," he said sarcastically.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
On their way out, the party was discussing things, namely their real lives. Mimiru was telling them about the weird people who go to her school, when they heard two new voices approaching in the dungeon.  
  
Mimiru paused for a moment, thought about the owerns of the voices, and suddenly yelled out at the two people. "BEAR!" she yelled. "BT!"  
  
"Mimiru?" asked the confused Bear as he and his lady Wave Master friend came down the dungeon hall. He was shocked to see her partying with other people.  
  
"Who're they?" asked Tsukasa, pointing ackwardly.  
  
"They... were supposed to party with me earlier!" snapped Mimiru. "But you... stood me up, for each other?"  
  
"Mimiru, it's not what you think-" said Bear.  
  
"Oh, SHUT UP!" she cried. "I thought, maybe I got the time wrong, maybe I got the server wrong! Yet here you two are! Together! It appears the only thing I was ever wrong about was introducing you two to each other!"  
  
She screamed, a loud, angry, and obnoxious scream, then whipped out an Orcania Spirit, and exited.  
  
Bear bowed politely. "Sorry about that," he told Tsukasa and Maha. He and BT used Spirits to leave as well.  
  
"Well," said Maha. "That was... interesting."  
  
"... yeah," said Tsukasa. He blinked a few times.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Balmung was laying on a grassy mountain in the Root Town Dona Roriak. Subaru was leaned up against him, telling him all her latest problems, her petty worthless problems he didn't care about. As an Admin, he was required to respond to the Crimson Knights calls whenever they had them... unfortunately, it appeared this also applied to, "When Subaru has personal problems."  
  
"Subaru," he sighed. "It sounds like you need to get offline for a while, and take a break."  
  
"I... I suppose so," she sniffed. She removed her arms from his body, and stood up with his aide. "Thank you."  
  
As she stood on her on two feet, he collasped back onto the ground, spreading his wings and litering feathers about. He put his hands behind his head, in a relaxed position, and told her, "No problem... Orca and I will look into these people, Tsukasa and Maha, as well."  
  
She bowed politely, and leaned over by him, and kissed him sweetly on the cheek. He mentally sighed, and physically smiled.  
  
"Thank you, again," she said. She blushed red, and logged out.  
  
Balmung sprung up, and made "ugh" noises, and wiped his cheek thoroughly. He walked along the hill area, looking down at the players. Players would usually have to climb to get to the ledge he was at, but his wings, were really wings.  
  
As he leaned over, he heard two voices being talking to each other.  
  
"Maha," said one, "Exactly what happened back there?"  
  
"I don't know, Tsukasa, but it seems like Mimiru has some isses with her friends."  
  
"Maha and Tsukasa, huh?" Balmung told himself. He observed them quietly. "Now where's this, 'hacked' character..."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Mimiru was sitting in Dona Roriak against the wooden railing of the Puchiguso Barn where Tsukasa and Maha found her.  
  
"Why does she look weird?" asked Aura.  
  
"Eh, she's uhm, not feeling well," said Maha.  
  
"So, let's make her feel better?" suggested Aura.  
  
"Uh, hey," said Tsukasa, "PMSing women, trying to comfort? BIG, no."  
  
Maha kneeled down by Mimiru. "Are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah, sort of," she whimpered.  
  
"The way I see it," said Maha, "you were originally going to that dungeon with them, but they stood you up, so you overheard us, bugged us about it, and used the Descdendants of Fianna excuse to make us go?"  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
"Heh," giggled Maha. "Cute, really, really cute... so, are you going to sit around here all day, or are you coming to another dungeon with us?"  
  
Mimiru peered up from behind her knees. "Where to this time?"  
  
"We were thinking of risking going to the Delta Server, where the Crimson Knights are probably waiting to lynch mob us, but whatever... we just heard about some dungeons on the BBS, namely, a chapel-looking area, and a wood field..." Maha stood up. "We're probably going to see what the big deal about this church is first... and you know, if the Knights are waiting for us, three people and an event NPC there to make fun of them would be better than two."  
  
"Alright then," said Mimiru. She smirked a little. "It's a deal! I don't tell the almighty Fiannans about you!" she snickered, "and you don't piss me off!"  
  
Maha rolled her eyes repeatedly. "Whatever."  
  
"Oh god, you invited her into the party AGAIN?" moaned Tsukasa. He fell over on the grass. Snippets of grass fell over his body upon impact. A little baby Puchiguso came up to him, and started eating the grass off of his garb. "He-hey!"  
  
Up above, Balmung, still watching them, sent an email to Orca. "At that chapel on Delta," was all it said. He then skidded down the back of the Puchiguso Barn, and onto the regular ground. "To the chapel," he told himself.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Authors Notes:  
*... I couldn't help - I had to put Balmung and Orca in somewhere early. XP  
*You can totally tell I didn't wanna write this chapter. XD Chapter three, Balmung, coming up next. :P :P :P  
  
~ ~ ~ 


	3. Balmung

To a Never-Ending World  
Author: Rhyste  
Summary: To a Never-Ending World is an Alternate Universe fanfic of .hack//SIGN. Tsukasa, depressed and lonely, goes on The World daily as an escape from reality. Convincing himself he's strong, he often comes off to players as an arrogant loner person, who believes he doesn't need other people. When he finds the Event NPC, Aura, he slowly begins to uncover a different side of The World that he never looked at before.  
Disclaimer: .hack//SIGN and the entire .hack project do not belong to me. ^^;  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
______ to a never-ending world  
_________ part three  
_____________ balmung  
  
The trio was disappointed that the Crimson Knights were not there ready to try and kill them all. Tsukasa and Maha took Aura and went to the church field, while Mimiru went on a quick supplies run. It was during this time, that the boat of the Crimson Knights appeared in the waterway, and something shocking was stated.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"What?!" yelled Tsukasa. He stood inside the chapel on the Delta Server, with Maha, Aura, and Mimiru. Mimiru had just entered, and informed the trio that the Crimson Knights had declared they'd find them at all costs.  
  
"Isn't restraining and stalking," began Maha, "of another player, or players, against regulations?"  
  
"Yeah, it is!" said Mimiru. "I don't understand! At all!" She sat down on one of the chapel benches besides Aura. "Should we try reporting it to an Admin?"  
  
"What's the use?" replied Maha. "The admins would probably side with the Knights, unless we could get ahold of the Descendants, but even then..."  
  
"What exactly did you guys do that they're so pissed about anyway?"  
  
"Uhm, well, we were walking around with Aura," said Tsukasa, "when suddenly, they popped out and told us she looked 'hacked' or something, then we ended up PKing them... actually, that was mostly Maha's fault, but yeah, we PK'ed some of them."  
  
"So, then what're you going to do?" questioned Mimiru.  
  
"I suppose, we could just stay here," said Maha. "It doesn't seem like anyone comes here anyway... who'd want to go to a field with a chapel and no dungeon?"  
  
"Then..." said Mimiru, "I'll meet you here tomorrow."  
  
"Huh? You're leaving?" Tsukasa asked. He sounded worried, almost.  
  
"Well, it's one am here," snapped Mimiru, "and I have things to do tomorrow morning! Namely, school sports!"  
  
"Jock," giggled Tsukasa.  
  
"Aw, shut up!" she barked. She left the field immediately.  
  
~ ~ ~   
  
In the Admin control room of the CC Corp of Japan's building, a boy no older than eighteen was helping himself to a master Mac Anu video log. Just when the knights, Crim and Ginkan, suddenly approached a Sorcerer and a Long Arm accompanied by a little girl, he stopped fastforwarding, and began to watch.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
The following hour was spent watching Aura amuse herself with Teddy. She and Teddy were half-way through their second tea party, when Tsukasa got up, bored as possible, and began wandering around the chapel.  
  
"Where're you going?" asked Maha. She had been practicing spear moves with a statue. "Taking a look around?"  
  
"Yeah... we're gunna log on and have to be here until this thing with the Crimson Knights settles, so I figured I'd look around."  
  
"Suit yourself," Maha told him.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Tsukasa walked along the hallways, dragging his staff around. At the end of the hall was a stained glass window. As he got closer to it, he saw it depicted a large dragon. Beside the dragon were a girl, and a person with angel wings. In the background was a rainbow, and floating above the rainbow was a woman dressed in black, and a man dressed in white. Below was a caption. Tsukasa leaned over and read, "At the Rainbow doth they met."  
  
As he stood up, an angel feather blew by him. He looked to his side, where the source of the feathers drifting was. There was a male there, partially covered in shadows.  
  
"Wh-who are you?" he said suddenly. He held out his staff in front of him.  
  
The winged person flicked the staff to the side with much ease, and bent over to look at Tsukasa. As he approached the light, his figure became more visible. A sword at his side, and angel wings on his back. Tsukasa assumed he was a Blade User.  
  
"I'm Balmung," he said. "And you must be Tsukasa."  
  
"I, didn't do anything!" yelled Tsukasa, immediately jumping to assumptions. He inched back with each step, getting as far as away from Balmung as possible. That wasn't very far as he soon hit a solid wall.  
  
"Don't worry," said the swordsman. He shrugged. "I was just, here, and you showed up..."  
  
Tsukasa said nothing.  
  
"You're the ones who the Crimson Knights attacked in Mac Anu, correct? You and that Long Arm?"  
  
"Yes..." Tsukasa said slowly.  
  
"What the Crimson Knights did was rather unjust, eh?" asked Balmung. "After all, they're players, you're players, only they are to try and set examples for other players... attacking people in town without warning is a bit uncalled for."  
  
Tsukasa felt relieved this person believed in their innocence, yet, he still kept his guard up, unknowning why he was really here. Could this be some kind of mind trick?  
  
"I'd like to help you," said the Blade User.  
  
"What can you do?" asked Tsukasa. "You don't seem like a high levelled player or anything," he continued unappreciatively, "just some newbie with wings and a sword."  
  
Balmung looked incredibly pleased, even though he was being insulted. "Maybe I am?" he joked. He stepped away from Tsukasa, and started walking down the hallway to the main area of the chapel.  
  
"Where're you going?" asked Tsukasa.  
  
"If you must know, I'm leaving now," he called back to Tsukasa. "I'll do what I can for you, but don't expect miracles."  
  
Tsukasa didn't reply, and slowly began following Balmung down the poorly lit chapel corridor. He passed the abstract artworks hanging on the wall, the gothic statues. When he passed one that looked similar to a dead man being eaten, he felt a shiver down his spine, and looked at Balmung's back, then the artwork, then began to quicken his pace.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Maha was sitting beside Aura and Teddy drinking a cup of tea, when the angel winged swordsman appeared from the hallways.  
  
"Who're you?" yelled Maha.  
  
"Just a friend," Balmung told her coyly. He walked right past Maha, who did nothing, and down the rows of seats to the chapel door.  
  
Tsukasa emerged from the hallway, and saw Balmung leaving.  
  
"Bye newbie," Tsukasa told him arrogantly.  
  
Balmung laughed a little to himself. "Auf Wiedersehen." He waved as he exited the building through the doors. As he went down the steps, he saw someone, Orca, waiting for him.  
  
"We're you trying to get that Priestress NPC out on a date with you again?"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Who was that?" asked Maha.  
  
"Oh, just some newbie who said he could help us."  
  
"That was a newbie?" gaped Maha.  
  
"Yep," he said as he sat down by Aura.  
  
"With wings?" continued Maha.  
  
"... yeah..." Tsukasa told her slowly.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked again.  
  
"... pretty positive," replied Tsukasa.  
  
"Well... whatever then," sighed Maha.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
On the Omega Server in the Root Town Lia Fail, Balmung was resting in a pile of snow beside Orca, who was attempting to build a snowman. Balmung watched him idly - he patted the snow into a ball-like shape, and attempted to stack these ontop of each other.  
  
"Orca," he said finally, after watching the seventh failure of his snowman.  
  
"Yes?" replied the swordsman. He stopped patting the snow, and sat by Balmung.  
  
"Did you find out any information about the Crimson Knights, and their newest plot to capture Tsukasa?"  
  
"Sort of."  
  
"Please share."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Mimiru's player came home from school, and sat down at her console. Before putting her headset on, she took a moment to check her mail. There was one from the CC Corp announcing she was able to access Calmine Gaderica now, one from a real life friend, and then, one from Bear?  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Authors Notes:  
*The picture depicts the Epitaph of the Twilight's story. XDD  
*Balmung's personality in this AU highly differs from his game personality. :P  
*In English Version of .hack, Calmine Gaderica is Carmine Gadelica. Ugly name! ;-;  
*Luckily, Lia Fail and Mac Anu stayed the same. ^_^  
*Coming up: Subaru's trickery, and Balmung saves the day, and Aura runs aw~way! 


	4. Bear

To a Never-Ending World  
Author: Rhyste  
Summary: To a Never-Ending World is an Alternate Universe fanfic of .hack//SIGN. Tsukasa, depressed and lonely, goes on The World daily as an escape from reality. Convincing himself he's strong, he often comes off to players as an arrogant loner person, who believes he doesn't need other people. When he finds the Event NPC, Aura, he slowly begins to uncover a different side of The World that he never looked at before.  
Disclaimer: .hack//SIGN and the entire .hack project do not belong to me. ^^;  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
______ to a never-ending world  
_________ part four  
_____________ bear  
  
"Mimiru wants to meet us at the 'Enchanting Detestable Winter Demon field?" asked Tsukasa.  
  
"Yep," said Maha. "She said it was important."  
  
That in mind, they quickly left, with Aura, and arrived at the field. All they heard was a scream, before a small army of Crimson Knights jumped on them.  
  
It was a trap. Mimiru had double-crossed them.  
  
"What the!" screamed Maha. As the name of the field implied, it was a snowy field. She vaguely saw the snow, before she saw a sword being slashed at her. She swung her spear as quickly as possible, but it wasn't that quick.  
  
Upon seeing Maha being ganged by a group of Knights, Tsukasa grabbed Aura's hand, and looked around him. They were standing right next to a Fortress. He grabbed Aura's entire body, lifted her into his hands, and threw her through a window. "Run!" he yelled.  
  
Aura clutched Teddy, and began running.  
  
Tsukasa watched her descend down the hall, then summoned a Seri Summon. The summons range, however, didn't seem that effective against the Knights. About three died, but others used a Revive on them.  
  
But this did buy Maha enough time to break away. She attempted to use an Orcania Spirit, as did Tsukasa, but they wouldn't work: The Knights had set up a barrier.  
  
"Oh no," muttered Tsukasa. "We're... screwed."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
On the other side of the fortress, BT and Bear were waiting for Mimiru.  
  
"Do you really think they'll be able to work things out?" asked BT.  
  
"We'll just have to have faith, huh?" said Bear. He sat down by BT, and put his hand on her leg, and leaned over to kiss her, when Orca of all people appeared.  
  
"Two adults," he said, "about to kiss. Man, this game really has gotten out of hand."  
  
Bear and BT immediately separated, and looked at Orca.  
  
"Hey, I met you before," said BT, "in... Dona Roriak."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"What... do you want?"  
  
"I'm Orca of the Azure Sea, the much, MUCH, lesser known Descendant of Fianna," he said.  
  
"One of the Descendants..." said BT.  
  
"Yep... so uhm, the Crimson Knights told me to come here," he said. "About Tsukasa and Maha."  
  
"Yeah..." said Bear. "We emailed them since we know Mimiru, and saw the three PC's with her in a dungeon."  
  
"Right," said Orca, nodding. "Well, uh, about the Knights, and their plan..."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
The Knights had begun circling Tsukasa and Maha. Then a section of them broke apart, and that's when Subaru herself appeared, with Ginkan and Crim at her side. They walked down the newly formed passage, smiles across their faces.  
  
"You..." began Subaru. "You are going to be restricted, until the Descendants of Fianna arrive... Balmung will be more than happy to delete your accounts... not to mention do something about that little girl."  
  
Crim stared at the two of them: where WAS the little girl?  
  
"Balmung?" asked Tsukasa.  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Subaru, where's the little girl?" asked Crim.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Wait, BALMUNG?" yelled Tsukasa.  
  
"Shut up!" snapped Subaru. "I don't have time for you, and neither will you." She sighed, and looked dreamily. "He's so busy lately, now that he's an admin."  
  
Maha looked murderously at Tsukasa. "Newbie, huh?"  
  
"Subaru-" continued Crim.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"... the little girl?"  
  
Subaru blinked, and looked at the two players, then paused. "... wha! What the! Where is she?!"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Aura was walking down the hallways of the fortress, when a small feather fell on her face. Tickled by it, she sneezed, then the other of the feather lept down from a small ledge positioned above her.  
  
"Hey," said Balmung, putting his hand up and waving.  
  
"You're... from... the... holy place..." said Aura, pointing at him mindlessly.  
  
"Yep."  
  
Aura smiled. "Would you have tea with Teddy and I?"  
  
Balmung grinned. "I'd be happy to."  
  
"Here, you sit there-" Balmung did as he was told, "-and Teddy can go right here, and I'll sit here!"  
  
They sat in a triangle shaped formation, and Aura conjurred up a Tea Pot and three cups out of thin air. Balmung looked mildly shocked. He lifted the cup into his hand, and put it to his mouth.  
  
"What flavor?" he asked.  
  
"It's Raspberry!"  
  
"Ahhh," he downed the entire glass in one gulp. "Hmm, that tasted nice."  
  
"Oh, you like it?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Oh, wow!" said Aura. "You're very nice."  
  
"I am?" he asked playfully.  
  
"Uh-huh," she nodded. "What's your name?"  
  
"Balmung," he replied shortly, pouring another cup of fake tea into his cup.  
  
"... big brother," she said. "Big brother Balmung."  
  
"Brother, huh?" he chuckled. As he lifted the cup to his face, he paused, looking very weary. "It's... been a while since someone's called me 'brother.'"  
  
"Huh?" asked Aura.  
  
"No-nothing," he said, blushing slightly. "Just... nothing." He looked off into a distance blankly.  
  
Three people rounded the corner near their tea party.  
  
"Aura!" said one. It was Mimiru.  
  
"... huh? Oh..." she said, "Mi-mi-ru?"  
  
"Yep!" She looked at Balmung. "Ba-Ba-Balmung of the-the-the He-he-heavens?!"  
  
"She's the 'hacked' NPC," snickered Balmung, "right?"  
  
"Where's Tsukasa and Maha?" asked Mimiru. She rose her sword to him.  
  
Aura lept in front of the sword. "No!" she cried. "He's a nice person!"  
  
Balmung smiled a little, and rose to his feet. "Don't worry... part of my job is to help the Crimson Knights whenever the call, and apparently, part of that has become helping Subaru with her personal problems."  
  
"What's that mean?" asked a confused Mimiru.  
  
"... you think I wanna help a whiny little brat with her real life problems?"  
  
Mimiru put the sword to her side, impressed. "Guess not."  
  
"By the way," said Balmung, "about the Crimson Knights."  
  
"Yeah?" asked Mimiru.  
  
"They tricked you," was all he said.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Uh, Subaru?" said Ginkan. "We can't find the little girl, nor do we have any contact from Balmung or Orca."  
  
"That... that asshole," Tsukasa told Maha.  
  
The two of them were sitting on the ground, with no weapons, and the Knights looming around them.  
  
"Then... check that... fortress!" said Subaru. She pointed her thumb back at it, since she stood with her back to it.  
  
Tsukasa immediately stood up. "NO!" he yelled before Maha could kick him down.  
  
"... argh! You... piece... of shit..."  
  
"... oh... oh no..." said Tsukasa.  
  
"The fortress!" said Subaru. "Immediately!"  
  
"Yes ma'am!" they said.  
  
"No need for that," said an approaching person. It was Orca. He emerged from the Fortress enterance.  
  
"Orca, where's Balmung?" asked Subaru.  
  
"Pissed."  
  
"Pissed?"  
  
"Yeah, at you."  
  
Subaru looked offended. "Wha, what did I do?"  
  
"Everything."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"This is no longer a question of following the rules, it's a question of morale."  
  
"... what're you saying?"  
  
"You know what I'm saying."  
  
Balmung's feathers began to rain on Subaru, and the knights. They looked up, and sitting up top the Fortress was Balmung. And with him was Aura. She was sitting in his lap with teddy.  
  
"You!" screamed Tsukasa. "You-"  
  
"Tsukasa," yelled Balmung. He stood up, and flew down from the fortress top, with Aura in his arms. He approached him, grinning. "Tsukasa..."  
  
"What?" asked Tsukasa. "You... also tricked us!"  
  
"Uh, hah, no," he said. "Just give me a chance man!" He set Aura down on the ground, and looked at Subaru.  
  
"Balmung!" she yelled. "What are you doing? Delete them, immediately!"  
  
"... did they say I was going to ban your accounts?" Balmung asked over his shoulder to Tsukasa and Maha.  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"... well, that's a load of crap," he said.  
  
"What did you just say?" asked Subaru. Ginkan and Crim looked equally as suprised, as did the rest of the knights.  
  
He suddenly drew out his sword, as did Orca, and attacked the Knights surrounding Tsukasa and Maha. The Knights were in total shock that the Descendants of Fianna of all people had suddenly started to PK, and didn't really react. It took but a few minutes before, the only people around were the two of them, Tsukasa, Maha, Aura, Subaru, Crim, and Ginkan.  
  
"So, Orca," said Balmung. "How much HP did you loose?"  
  
"None."  
  
"Me either... oh yeah... the barrier?"  
  
"Oh, I disabled it."  
  
"Very good." Balmung turned to Tsukasa and Maha, and nodded. "Well, that takes care of that, you can exit the field now."  
  
"... and our weapons?" asked Tsukasa. "That was a pretty good staff with one Seri sum-" he shut up as Balmung threw a new staff at him, and a new spear at Maha.  
  
"Just some junk I found in a dungeon on Omega," he snickered.  
  
"Uhh... rare level 67 Spear..." said Maha. Balmung kind of nodded at her, with a, "yes you can keep it" expression. "... ok, yea... well, I'm happy, you?"  
  
"... TWO. SERI. SUMMONS!" yelled Tsukasa. "NOT ONE! TWO!" He shoved the staff at Maha's face. "Look at this BEAUTIFUL WORK OF ART!"  
  
"He's fine," nodded Maha. "Come on Tsukasa, let's go!"  
  
"TWO!" he yelled again. "TWO!"  
  
"... uh..." Maha took Aura and Tsukasa by the hand, and logged out of the field, saying a quick, "Later!"  
  
Subaru looked absolutely dumbfounded - Balmung had never given her a level 60-some Axe before. She fell on her knee's.  
  
"Balmung..." she said.  
  
"Subaru," he said, "you're annoying me, please shut up."  
  
Subaru froze. Did he just tell her to shut up?  
  
"What?!" roared Ginkan. "What did you just-"  
  
"WHAT YOU DID," yelled Orca, "was both unjust and immoral. Tricking a girl using her feelings for another person against her... and in the first place, attacking Tsukasa and Maha in town for no reason and without warning... hey, PK'ers are more decent than you."  
  
Subaru couldn't speak, nor move. Instead, she cried.  
  
"Poor Subaru," snickered Balmung. He put his head up high, and held his sword across his chest, finally taking on the role of a snobby high levelled player whom every person on the game had envisioned him to be, and left looking quite proud. Orca simply stuck his tounge out, and followed Balmung back to Dona Roriak. "Losers," he said as he left.  
  
And then, the three Knights were the only ones remaining. The three said nothing between them. At least, until very angered Bear and BT logged into the field.  
  
"Orca just told us pretty much everyone had left except you three," said Bear.  
  
"What... do you two want?" asked Ginkan. "Milady is distressed by the failure of-"  
  
"Of your plan?" said BT. "Let's go over, 'your plan,' ok?"  
  
"First, we email you, telling you about Mimiru's relationship with Tsukasa and Maha..."  
  
"... then we're to email Mimiru, asking her to show up here, in the Fortress, where only you three are supposed to be, and that she's to bring along Tsukasa, Maha, and the little girl."  
  
"So we did that... and then, who is to appear, but the entire squadron of Crimson Knights! Not to discuss matters with Tsukasa, but rather, attack him, restrain him."  
  
"And then you called upon Balmung, who recently became an Admin, and requested him to come here, to delete all three of them."  
  
Crim looked blank. Since when had this been the plan? Since when had Bear and BT and Mimiru had anything to do with it? He hadn't been told the entire story, just that they had lured Tsukasa to a field, and were going to restrain him. He looked at Subaru, who was hanging her head, either in shame, embarrassment, or maybe both. Ginkan was practically growling at Bear and BT, he obviously knew their part in the plan.  
  
"Mimiru won't talk to us," continued BT. "And I don't think Tsukasa and Maha will be talking to her either."  
  
"You destroyed two different friendships," said Bear. "Are you just trying to make people unahppy?"  
  
"Because... you can't be happy?" BT said cruelly. She and Bear then left, with Subaru, Crim and Ginkan standing there.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
On the ferry boat in Mac Anu, Tsukasa, Maha, Aura and Balmung were talking. Aura and Teddy were lying on Balmung, while Tsukasa and Maha sat on the bench opposite from him.  
  
"Of course we never doubted you!" said Tsukasa.  
  
"Uh, right," said Balmung. He rolled his eyes, and smirked.  
  
The boat stopped at the dock in Mac Anu, and Balmung gently took Aura off of his lap.  
  
"Big brother?" she asked.  
  
"I've gotta run," he said. He waved good-bye as he started walking off.  
  
"Bye!" said Maha, hugging her spear.  
  
Aura began crying on Teddy. Balmung turned around, and leaned down by her. "Aww, don't cry... if you do, I won't come back." Aura immediately stopped, and blushed a little. He smiled at her, and left.  
  
"... wow," said Tsukasa. "That's almost as impressive as my new staff."  
  
"Is all you ever think about your new staff?" asked Maha.  
  
"Seeing as how I just got it? No."  
  
"Fweeeh... well, then, I'm getting off as well. Have fun with Aura."  
  
"Ok! Come on Aura, we're going to a new staff to test out my Seri Summons!"  
  
Aura followed, wondering when Big brother would return, wondering about what he was doing right now. Actually, he wasn't doing much at all.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Balmung was idly walking through Fort Auf with another person with him, namely, a green haired twin swordsman. They crossed the long narrow paths of the fort to a spot in the center of the road connecting the item store and weapon store, and sat down on a bench.  
  
"Sora, correct?" Balmung asked him.  
  
"Yes... a representative of Helba."  
  
"The hacker?" Balmung asked him.  
  
"Who else?" shrugged Sora.  
  
"Ah yes... we've met before."  
  
"Well then, to get to the point, we understand that players have come in contact with a little girl, named Aura."  
  
"Yes... a boy named Tsukasa and a girl named Maha. They take her around with them, assuming she's an Event NPC... Tsukasa's certain he'll win a prize for showing the NPC various aspects of The World."  
  
"... huh, well... is she really an Event NPC?"  
  
"Of course not," he chuckled. "We monitor all Event NPC's... she's not one of them."  
  
"And you let a thing that shouldn't be there... be there?" Sora asked. "Quite interesting for the type of job you have."  
  
"I met her earlier today... she's harmless, otherwise, I would've handed her case over to Albireo and Kamui at the Debugging Department."  
  
"Hrm, seems like I'll have to trust your judgement then," said Sora. "Seeing as how I haven't come in contact with the Wandering AI, I'll have to believe you... but, you do know what she really is, don't you?"  
  
"Not entirely," he replied playfully. "But, I have a feeling you do."  
  
"Do you want to tell you? I have no problem doing so."  
  
"No... save the speech for Tsukasa. He's the one who bares the burden of Aura, anyway."  
  
"Huh, so be it then... I'll contact Tsukasa... and not bother you again."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Authors Notes:  
*... so like, when I first wrote this, Balmung never had this big emotional backstory, now he does. 


End file.
